Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Li W
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5535798 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Li Wei W Ma Lei L Yang Guang G Gan Wen-Biao WB
Nature neuroscience 20170116 3
The functions and underlying mechanisms of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep remain unclear. Here we show that REM sleep prunes newly formed postsynaptic dendritic spines of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the mouse motor cortex during development and motor learning. This REM sleep-dependent elimination of new spines facilitates subsequent spine formation during development and when a new motor task is learned, indicating a role for REM sleep in pruning to balance the number of new spines formed over ...[more]